The Open Championship Prize Money Payout 2026: How Much Did Ryan Fox Win At Royal Birkdale?

Ryan Fox won The 154th Open Championship by one stroke thanks to a walk-off birdie on the 72nd hole - here's how much the New Zealander earned as a result

Ryan Fox raises his fist after holing the winning putt at The Open in 2026
(Image credit: Getty Images)

New Zealand's Ryan Fox birdied the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale to win The Open Championship by a single stroke on Sunday.

The 39-year-old posted a closing 68 to reach 10-under and hold off a resurgent Cameron Young by the barest of margins, consequently claiming his maiden Major title in the process.

Fox, who has clinched two PGA Tour titles, four DP World Tour trophies and earned more than $23 million in prize money throughout his career, was seemingly down and out early on in the back nine before rolling home four gains across his final six holes.

Despite a desperately unlucky bogey at the par-3 15th, Fox rallied via a birdie-par-birdie finish to etch his name onto the Claret Jug forever.

But that's not all. Even though The Open prize money purse will sit far below that of its three peers in 2026, there is still an eye-watering payout on offer.

The Masters and US Open both offered a total of $22.5 million to the field this year while the PGA Championship nudged north of $20 million as well.

In a comfortable fourth place is The Open with a grand total of $17.75 million. But that's actually up $750,000 from last year.

Nevertheless, Fox will collect $3.2 million (roughly £2.4 million), which is $100,000 (£74,600) more than Scottie Scheffler picked up at Royal Portrush in 2025. Even so, there are a couple of very good reasons why the Open champion's take-home pay will be significantly less than the aforementioned number.

Aside from the prize money, there are plenty of other perks for winning The Open that Fox will now enjoy.

For those who fell just short, including Young, Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler, there are still massive checks heading their way over the coming days.

Remarkably, each of the top-three positions offer more than $1 million while everyone who finished T28th or better will scoop at least $102,817 - that is before various factors such as taxes reduce how much every pro golfer really earns.

Ryan Fox

Ryan Fox

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Any professional who made the cut at Royal Birkdale is guaranteed to claim $39,700 while the leading 10 pros and ties who missed the cut will take away $12,900 (£9,600).

The next 20 leading pros (and ties) will earn $10,750 (£8,000) each and the remaining pros who qualified for The Open but languished down at the bottom of the leaderboard will clinch $9,100 ($6,800).

Below is the full prize money breakdown for The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

THE OPEN PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN 2026

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Position

Player

Prize Money

1st (-10)

Ryan Fox

$3,200,000

2nd (-9)

Cameron Young

$1,842,000

3rd (-8)

Sam Burns

$1,181,000

T4th (-7)

Tommy Fleetwood

$827,500

T4th (-7)

Scottie Scheffler

$827,500

T6th (-6)

Casey Jarvis

$550,883

T6th (-6)

Lucas Herbert

$550,883

T6th (-6)

Si Woo Kim

$550,883

T9th (-5)

Adam Scott

$336,380

T9th (-5)

Russell Henley

$336,380

T9th (-5)

Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen

$336,380

T9th (-5)

Ludvig Aberg

$336,380

T9th (-5)

Ryan Gerard

$336,380

T14th (-4)

Corey Conners

$234,325

T14th (-4)

Sungjae Im

$234,325

T14th (-4)

Hideki Matsuyama

$234,325

T14th (-4)

Bryson DeChambeau

$234,325

T18th (-3)

Rickie Fowler

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Chris Gotterup

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Bud Cauley

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Marco Penge

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Alex Noren

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Collin Morikawa

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Jordan Smith

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Kristoffer Reitan

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Dan Brown

$164,575

T18th (-3)

Xander Schauffele

$164,575

T28th (-2)

John Parry

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Victor Perez

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Patrick Cantlay

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Brooks Koepka

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Pierceson Coody

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Robert MacIntyre

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Jacob Bridgeman

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Max Homa

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Shane Lowry

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Cameron John

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Kazuma Kobori

$102,817

T28th (-2)

Jackson Suber

$102,817

T40th (-1)

Thomas Detry

$69,750

T40th (-1)

JJ Spaun

$69,750

T40th (-1)

Kurt Kitayama

$69,750

T40th (-1)

Michael Thorbjornsen

$69,750

T40th (-1)

Matt Wallace

$69,750

T40th (-1)

Rory McIlroy

$69,750

T46th (E)

Matthew Southgate

$51,707

T46th (E)

Eugenio Chacarra

$51,707

T46th (E)

Patrick Reed

$51,707

T46th (E)

Francesco Molinari

$51,707

T46th (E)

Hennie Du Plessis

$51,707

T46th (E)

Jon Rahm

$51,707

T46th (E)

Jose Luis Ballester

$51,707

T53rd (+1)

Eric Cole

$45,183

T53rd (+1)

Ryo Hisatsune

$45,183

T53rd (+1)

Michael Brennan

$45,183

T53rd (+1)

Shaun Norris

$45,183

T53rd (+1)

Sahith Theegala

$45,183

T53rd (+1)

Alex Smalley

$45,183

T59th (+2)

Ben Griffin

$43,025

T59th (+2)

Aldrich Potgieter

$43,025

T59th (+2)

Min Woo Lee

$43,025

T59th (+2)

Nick Taylor

$43,025

T59th (+2)

Naoyuki Kataoka

$43,025

T59th (+2)

Johnny Keefer

$43,025

T65th (+3)

Peter Uihlein

$41,987.50

T65th (+3)

Justin Thomas

$41,987.50

T67th (+4)

Sepp Straka

$41,350

T67th (+4)

Nico Echavarria

$41,350

T69th (+5)

Andy Sullivan

$40,800

T69th (+5)

Tyrrell Hatton

$40,800

T71st (+6)

Laurie Canter

$40,450

T71st (+6)

MJ Daffue

$40,450

T71st (+6)

Alex Fitzpatrick

$40,450

T74th (+7)

Keegan Bradley

$40,075

T74th (+7)

Kazuki Higa

$40,075

T74th (+7)

Marcus Plunkett

$40,075

77th (+8)

Jack McDonald

$39,825

78th (+9)

Jesper Svensson

$39,700

Jonny Leighfield
News Writer

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.

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